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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23746192">The Days in November</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winter_Draken/pseuds/Winter_Draken'>Winter_Draken</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Court of Owls, Damian Wayne Needs a Hug, Damian Wayne is Robin, Damian Wayne is a Talon, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Dick Grayson is a Talon, Dimension Travel, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Bonding, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Jason Todd is a Talon, Magic, Multiverse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Damian Wayne, Protective Dick Grayson, Protective Jason Todd, Protective Tim Drake, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Tim Drake is a Talon, reverse robins (just a little)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:35:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,399</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23746192</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winter_Draken/pseuds/Winter_Draken</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In an alternate universe Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian were taken under the wing of the Grandmaster of the Court of Owls, Bruce Wayne, and turned into Talons. For years that was the only life they knew until they were rescued by a dragon and AI and moved to a new universe where they began to rebuild and live again. </p>
<p>That was six months ago.</p>
<p>Now the Court of Owls has come with an ultimatum, come back or die. And it doesn't help that Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian happened to get trapped in yet another universe with the original batfam. Nor does it help that it's November, a month they'd specifically designated as a "family month" since the beginning of their freedom so they could celebrate, spend time with each other, and recover. Guess the universes were really trying to screw them over.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dick Grayson &amp; Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson &amp; Jason Todd, Jason Todd &amp; Damian Wayne, Tim Drake &amp; Damian Wayne, Tim Drake &amp; Dick Grayson &amp; Jason Todd &amp; Bruce Wayne &amp; Damian Wayne, Tim Drake &amp; Jason Todd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>131</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. October 31st</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey! :) </p>
<p>This is my first fanfic and hopefully I'm staying in character, idk, I've never tried this before. But that aside, please enjoy!</p>
<p>We begin our story with the Talon versions of everyone in their world.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Damian landed softly on the rooftop and glared at the warehouse. This was way too cliche. Couldn’t villains pick better places as their bases of operation? Apparently not because this was the twentieth warehouse that they’d be raiding this month. At least he could tell that this raid wasn’t going to be a fluke, the past two had been, there were too many obvious signs. Bright lights that shouldn’t be on at this time, human noises that were just slightly too loud for his taste, and a shiny new padlock that didn’t belong on a supposedly unowned, abandoned building.</p>
<p><br/>“Target is in sight Hark.” Damian murmurs into his comm, “There seem to be people here this time.”</p>
<p><br/>“Ugghh.” A child’s voice groans from the earpiece, “You’re never letting me forget that are you? It was twice. And those were both terrible days.”</p>
<p><br/>“Tt.” Damian replies, but he can’t hide the amusement in his voice, “Of course not you imbecile. Now open up a line so I can speak.”</p>
<p><br/>“Sure thing boss.” He can hear the eye roll as the channel switches, “You’re all hooked up.”</p>
<p><br/>Damian nods in acknowledgement, knowing that Hark was always watching, before continuing.</p>
<p>“NightOwl, BloodMoon, Techium, report.”</p>
<p><br/>“In position.” BloodMoon’s voice rasped.</p>
<p><br/>“Ready when you are Talon.” Techium.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes.” NightOwl.</p>
<p><br/>“Then we move.” Damina states as he leaps off the building and angling his fall so that he crashes through the warehouse windows.</p>
<p><br/>There are yells and surprised shouts, like these criminals hadn’t been expecting a vigilante intervention, despite the fact that they were being ridiculously loud and obvious. Damian manages to throw a punch to the nearest thug and pull his katana before the padlocked front door is shot down and BloodMoon joins the fight, guns blazing.</p>
<p><br/>It’s utter chaos as the fight ensues. Damian sees a bo staff ram itself into some skull, enigma sticks embedded in someone's gut, and a rubber bullet in a knee. Everything goes smoothly until he appears.</p>
<p><br/>A Talon.</p>
<p><br/>Damian curses in Arabic as he pulls himself from the fight with the gang and launches himself at the Talon, trying to knock him out of the sight of his brothers. They weren’t ready to see a Talon again. Well, at the very least Richard and Jason weren’t ready to see a Talon.</p>
<p><br/>Not Richard and Jason right now, NightOwl and BloodMoon. He chides himself as he and the Talon fall behind large crates of smuggled drugs. Hopefully this was enough to hide the Talon until the fight was over.</p>
<p><br/>Damian buries his katana into the Talon’s chest and stabs the blade into the warehouse wall. Then he steps back a small fraction and flicks his wrists. Long blades curved like owl talons slit into place.</p>
<p><br/>“What is the Court doing here?” He hisses at the assassin, “Answer me.”</p>
<p><br/>The Talon just looks up with dead eyes, “The Court of Owls has come with its sentence. Either you come back to the Court or you die.”</p>
<p><br/>Damian yanks the sword out of the Talon, letting the weapon drop to the ground, trying very hard not to feel the anger that’s raging through his veins. But he does. Because he will not let the Court take him or his brothers again nor will he let the Court kill them. He will not.</p>
<p><br/>And because being raised as an assassin and a Talon has given him healthy coping methods, he engages the Talon in bloody combat in order to vent his anger.</p>
<p><br/>It’s the hand on his shoulder that stops his fit and Damian has to resist the urge to slice the appendage off. By now he’s fairly sure he’s cut the Talon’s left arm off three times, ripped its heart out twice, and gutted it once. There’s so much blood he can’t really tell.</p>
<p><br/>Looking up from the gory mess Damian sees Techium, Tim, standing there, with an expression that would look blank to anyone who couldn’t read the subtle signs of worry embedded within the mask.</p>
<p><br/>Techium raises an eyebrow, <em>what happened?</em></p>
<p><br/>Damian just steps away from the Talon and subtly shakes his head, <em>tell you later.</em></p>
<p><br/><em>Very well</em>, a nod.</p>
<p><br/>Damian turns his attention back to the Talon. It’s recovering but still not alive yet. Good. He pulls a small syringe of liquid nitrogen from his utility belt and injects the Talon. It could recover in some small windowless cell far, far away from his family.</p>
<p><br/>“Assessment?” Damian asks.</p>
<p><br/>“Owl and Blood are both fine and all the assailants have been dealt with. With any luck the police will be here shortly to retrieve them. I’ve included special instructions on the Talon.”<br/>“Good. Let’s leave.” <em>Before Richard and Jason are idiotic enough to come looking and see this.</em></p>
<p><br/>Techium nods again, just about to leave the scene when Owl steps around the corner of the drug boxes and sees everything.</p>
<p><br/>Damian bites his tongue to stop the spew of curses, this is not what he needed right now.</p>
<p><br/>Owl pales visibly, whips around, and starts running.</p>
<p><br/>Damian doesn’t say anything and hares after him, trusting Tech to follow and grabbing Blood just before his brother can see anything.</p>
<p><br/>Owl’s fast, he’s always been the fastest of the four of them, and also, sadly, the most flexible and hardest to catch. Damian sprints from rooftop to rooftop, barely able to keep his older brother in sight. He knows Richard will be running for sometime before finding some small corner to bury himself into and cry. He also knows that he can just as easily wait for Richard to stop running and then simply track his brother on his phone. But Richard is not the epitome of self-esteem and what Richard finds the most comfort in is when he knows that someone cares enough to chase because it helps him validate his self-worth. A stupid mindset Damian is working on breaking, however, until he is successful, he will chase Richard across as many rooftops as he needs to, because he’s failed them all once, he will not do it again.</p>
<p><br/>Steeling himself, Damian forces his legs to move just a little faster, hoping he could reach his brother just a little sooner, when suddenly Richard stiffens mid-jump and falls.</p>
<p><br/>Fear balls itself up in Damian’s stomach as he runs to the edge of the roof, expecting to see Owl’s broken and prone form below him. Which would be alright, he tells himself, it is not like we cannot heal. He doesn’t see a broken body, but looking down, he wishes he had.</p>
<p><br/>Damian sees a large, swirling, green portal and his brother is on the other side, rolling from the force of his fall and then Richard drops off the edge of a cliff. A string of curses escapes as Damian dives through the portal after Owl.</p>
<p><br/>Past the cliff is ice cold water. Shit. Damian may have gotten used to the cold, after all the harsh unforgiving training he’d forced on himself, but Richard and the others were not. For them, cold was their worst nightmare, it reminded them too much of their time in the Court, too much of all the pain.</p>
<p><br/>Icy tendrils of water run their dirty fingers down his body as Damian forces himself down deeper and deeper into the murky void. His eyes burn and he can barely keep them open but he does and his efforts are not in vain as soon he can see Richard’s outstretched hand. Grabbing his brother, Damian whips his body around and starts kicking, hard, trying to claw his way back to the surface. He feels his hand break the surface and then there are hands pulling him up.</p>
<p><br/>It took longer than Damian would have liked but soon he and Richard are soon out of the water, the former laying on his back and breathing hard while the latter is still, too still. Damian makes his body move, flipping over and begins to scan Richard. His brother’s not moving because the temperature drop is inhibiting him and blood is still seeping out of his side from a deep gut wound that wasn’t healing. Screw the cold. Techium is standing to the side, feverishly rubbing his hands together to get warm and Blood is pacing a rut into the ground, occasionally glancing at them but clearly too afraid to approach. Damian didn’t blame his brothers, the Court had left too many scars.</p>
<p><br/>“Talon! Come in!” Hark’s voice cracks over his comm, which had somehow managed to not fall off, “Talon!”</p>
<p><br/>“Tt. Quit yelling in my ear Hark, I heard you the first time.”</p>
<p><br/>There’s an audible sigh of relief, “Good. You had us worried. I’m fairly sure Mystoia would’ve gone on a rampage if something happened to y'all.”</p>
<p><br/>“Not now Hark. Rant about Mystoia later, find us shelter now.”</p>
<p><br/>“Yeah, I’m already on it. Turns out y’all are in some parallel universe. Good news? The world’s the exact same as ours, but minor differences, like the Court still existing, and Batman is also a hero here.”</p>
<p><br/>Damian grits his teeth. He’d already met two versions of Bruce Wayne, one of them had been his unwilling father and the Grandmaster of the Court while the other was the protective and heroic Batman of the world they currently claimed as their home. As much as the second Bruce Wayne had tried to help him and his brothers, Damian still couldn’t bring himself to trust someone with his father’s face. Not yet anyway.</p>
<p><br/>He was not looking forward to meeting yet another version of Bruce, but Batman was probably the one who could keep his brothers safe. Especially with the Court still running around. As much as he hated to admit it, Damian didn’t have the resources to keep his brothers safe and he’d rather swallow his pride and beg for help than lose any of his family back to the Court.</p>
<p><br/>“Send me the coordinates.”</p>
<p><br/>“I just said everything was the exact same as it is in our world. The location is already stored in your watch, but if you really wanted to know, you’re maybe a mile away from the manor fence.”</p>
<p><br/>“Shut up and hack the Batcomputer. I need material.” Damian growls into the comm.</p>
<p><br/>“On it grumpy.”</p>
<p><br/>Damian pushes himself to his feet and turns to his brothers.</p>
<p><br/>“We are seeking help from Batman and Bruce Wayne. Blood help me with Owl, Techium, navigate. We will discuss specifics later.”</p>
<p><br/>He gets two tense nods as his brothers jerk from their fears and move to help him. Damian clenches his fist at the sight of his brothers’ unearthed trauma, something they’d been working on healing for months, and mentally swears that whoever did this would pay, not tonight, but they would pay. In blood.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. October 31st (Part 2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Next chapter! I'm writing from canon Dick's point of view but this chapter isn't too much about his thoughts, rather it is mostly observations about the Talon versions because there was actually a lot I wanted to characterize about these versions. I promise I'll get into better thoughts from the canon views as the story progresses but for right now I'm trying to set everything up. :)</p>
<p>(Also I said I would be writing some reverse robin in this chapter but the story progressed a lot faster in my head then on paper so I didn't get to the reverse robins part :( sorry about that but that's something you can look forward to soon!)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>Dick Grayson was ecstatic. He had finally managed to convince all of his little brothers to come over for a family dinner. Well, convinced and blackmailed, but that was fine. They were together, they were not killing each other, so everything was fine. And he was not going to let anyone interrupt this night.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This was exactly why he was so annoyed when they heard the doorbell ring. It was dinner time, whoever ringing that bell better have a hell of a good reason for doing so. Dick excused himself to answer the door, even though Alfred had offered to do it. He had some choice words that he’d like to give whoever was there. He contemplated who could be at the door, perhaps a nosy journalist or maybe someone dumb enough to try and solicit something from the Wayne family. If it was anything major or related to their other job then Batman would already know about it, so it couldn’t be that right? What he didn’t expect was a hooded boy with stark yellow eyes dressed in black Kevlar and covered in blood. A boy that looked exactly like Damian, but aged up a few years. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Good. It’s Grayson.” Fake-Damian says, “Get Alfred. My brother is bleeding out. I need bandages and as many blankets as you can manage.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dick stared, wide-eyed and unsure what to do when the words “bleeding out” and “bandages” registered. Whatever was going on could be solved after people weren't dying. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alfred!” He turned around and called, “Someone’s hurt.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“My goodness.” The butler appears momentarily, takes stock of the scene, and then he’s gone to find first-aid supplies.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s then that the rest of the family enters the foyer to check out the commotion. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What the actual fuck?” Jason curses as he sees the kid, “There are <em> two </em> Demon Brats now? As if one wasn’t enough.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“From the Multiverse?” Tim asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Damian glares at the other him and Bruce simply watches them with a passive but calculating expression.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Not-Damian ignores them, instead turning around to his companions and beckoning them inside. There are three more people beyond the door all dressed in Kevlar and wearing domino masks, weariness was etched into their bodies. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The first person to step through the door was tense and young, not as young as fake-Damian but he couldn’t be older than sixteen. He narrowed his eyes at Bruce then blinked at not-Damian and they had  a silent conversation for a moment, before finally the kid let his tension ease and suddenly his suit, which had been a midnight black eased into a bright metallic silver. Dick guessed that was his way of appearing non-threatening, but it wasn’t really working, the guy's face was blank and his eyes were cold.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s safe.” The new kid said, his voice barely above a whisper, “Come on Owl, Blood.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That had to be the other two individuals outside the door. One of them was clutching his side weakly as blood ran down a large deep cut and leaning into the other heavily. The boy being used as a crutch moved to enter the house but was stopped as the injured one ripped his hand from his wound and slammed it just outside the door frame. Dick winced as he heard bones crack and saw that the guy was desperate to stay outside, despite the fact that he was clearly bleeding to death and needed treatment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not-Damian glanced at the situation and Dick expected some kind of insult or snarky comment, but the boy didn’t. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Blood,” Fake-Damian’s voice was gentle, “Come in it’s cold, I will help Owl.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Very gentle. The kind of relaxing tone he’d only heard Damian use with his pets before. Seeing some version of Damian use it on someone was refreshing, Dick had to admit that much.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Blood disentangles himself from Owl as Not-Damian slips over to take his place. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Richard.” The boy places a hand on Owl’s shoulder and squeezes, “Come inside. It is too cold outside.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Scared.” Richard, perhaps an alternate copy of Dick, whimpered, “Court.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There is no Court here. Not in this house.” Fake-Damian states, “Everything will be fine.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>More whimpering and Richard is shaking now, trying to pull away from Not-Damian’s grip. “Bruce.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Dick.” The boy tries. “The Bruce here is Batman, do you remember Batman? Little Auk’s dad? He is a good person and he will not hurt you. If he tries, if anyone tries, I will kill them.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Richard stops struggling to consider these words, “But Mys say kill bad. No make Mys sad Dami. Promise.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A sigh, “I will not Dickie, now come inside. You staying outside and hurting yourself will make not only Mystoia sad, but Tim, Jay, and me sad as well.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Richard’s arm falls and he leans into Fake-Damian, “Sorry.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tt. You have nothing to apologize for Dickie. Now we are going inside to get you cleaned up.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then Not-Damian turns to Dick and the rest of them, “I will take a room and care for my brother first, Techium will keep you entertained until I return. It will not take long. Alfred, would you mind taking us?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The butler had reappeared with supplies and nods, proceeding to lead the boys up the stairs. The progress is slow as Richard is injured and Blood is matching their pace, but no one dares stop them. Not even Jason.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As soon as the three boys are out of sight, everyone’s attention whips to the only intruder left, Techium. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s the Multiverse isn’t it?” Tim asks first, “You’re from an alternate universe.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Techium looks at them but doesn’t respond, instead he scrunches up his face in annoyance. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s a beat of silence before he speaks, “Screw you Hark. Not all of us enjoy dimension travel. You and Mystoia are exceptions. Only hell knows why you both decide to settle down and adopt children. And no, you’re not my dad, I know full well you identify as a ten-year-old male artificial intelligence.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A pause, then Techium yanks the comm from his ear and shoves it into his utility belt. “And this is exactly why I wish I could claim I have no family relation to you. Even dealing with Dami when he’s out for blood is better than dealing with you on a good day.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jason scowls at Techium, “Either you’re Dick or you’re fucking crazy cause no one likes dealing with Damian.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Heyー” Dick starts, Damian was not <em> that </em> difficult.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Techium looks beyond exasperated, “If you really believe I’m an alternate version of Dick, you’re more stupid than I thought you were. Dami literally just called Owl Richard, Dick, and Dickie. Isn’t that starking enough of a hint or do I need to spell it out for you?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tech, enough.” Not-Damian interrupts from the top of the staircase, “He did not mean he believed you were Richard, I believe it was just a statement that is related to the history that has occurred in this universe.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know.” Techium growls, “I’m just...”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Angry? I understand, however, please do not take it out on the people we are seeking shelter from. If you wished it, I can certainly take the blunt of your anger, whether that be verbally or physically. You know I am fully capable of such a task.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dick gaped, was this really some version of Damian that was talking right now? The boy was not only avoiding conflict he was diffusing it. Quite effectively at that too, Techium shoots a look at Jason and murmurs a soft apology.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not-Damian makes his way down the stairs, “My apologies, when I meant that Techium was going to entertain you, I certainly did not expect him to do so in the form of an argument with Hark. I was hoping for something closer to a partial explanation.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>All the eyes in the room are focused on him. There was no doubt that he’s the leader of the group, also, Dick couldn’t exactly put his finger on it but there was some kind of regal aura around the kid. It somehow felt like an evolved version of Damian’s arrogance, except, more natural, like it was earned and deadly. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He stops when he reaches them and offers a hand. No one goes to take it and he frowns slightly before Techium shoots him a look. Not-Damian drops his outstretched hand with a soft audible sigh, a wiry smile flashing across his face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah, I forgot that blood is a deterrent for human contact. Regardless, allow me to introduce myself. I am Damian Al Ghul-Wayne Tyrak, also known as the vigilante Talon. As you have guessed I am a version of Damian Wayne, but I will not say alternate version, because that is simply a matter of perspective. Now I suggest we find a place for an interrogation, it will be a long one. May I suggest the study as a suitable location?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It is.” Bruce states, “Follow me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They walk after Bruce and pile into the study. Not-Damian sits down on the floor in front of the couch and leans back into it. Another slight surprise and deviation from Damian behavior, Dick observes, Damian would’ve had his back ramrod straight and wouldn’t have deigned to lean back into a couch of all things. Especially not if Bruce was going to ask him questions. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fake-Damian pats the couch cushion to his left and looks pointedly at Techium. The boy glances again at Bruce, an action Dick couldn’t understand, unless their Bruce, he was assuming their world had a Bruce, had done something terrible to them. The thought made him slightly sick, as terrible as Bruce was with his emotions, he couldn’t imagine him harming children, especially children who were so young.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Techium finally pads over to the couch and sits down, but his body is rigid and uncomfortable as he stares them down with his blank expression.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Introductions.” Bruce says as Dick and the rest of his brothers fan out around him, forming a sort of semicircle around the newcomers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Techium answers, “I’m Techium, aka Timothy Jack Drake-Tyrak. BloodMoon, or Blood as we often call him, is Jason Peter Todd-Tyrak. And NightOwl, the guy bleeding out, is Richard John Grayson-Tyrak.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So you’re us from some other dimension.” Tim catalogs, “And you’re not adopted by Bruce Wayne.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not-Damian gives Tim a taunt smile at that statement, “As it is with many things, it is complicated. However, before I begin with that, please indulge in a question from me. What do you happen to know about the Court of Owls and their Talons?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dick frowns, slightly confused which somehow compelled him to answer, “We took down the Court months ago, most of the members are locked away and the Talons have been either iced, sent to rehabilitation, or killed.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Good. Then I do not need to explain too much concerning the Court, assuming your Court was anything like ours. And there is no point in beating around the bush so I will say this directly: we are Talons.” </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you enjoyed the chapter, please feel free to tell me what you think and perhaps the next chapter will be out by the end of next week! Next Friday... idk? And it'll be from Techium's (Talon Tim) point of view which will hopefully be pretty cool as we get into the dynamics of the Talon family. Also, we get a phone call from another dimension and Hark's appearance, which has got me pretty excited as Hark's an OC who's pretty fun to write.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. October 31st (Part 3)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey! As promised chapter 3 is out before the end of this week. ;)</p><p>I'm writing from Talon Tim's perspective and we get to see some of the the reserve robins I mentioned earlier (there will be more, I love squishing dimensions together). The phone call can get a little confusing cause the Talons are calling their brother and legal guardian who live in another universe and that universe has the reverse-aged batfam in it so there are like three Damians in this chapter... Oh well. (Canon, Talon, and Reverse Aged)</p><p>To avoid confusion I will mention now that the Talon versions have different names than their given names (this is mentioned in the chapter). The names are listed below:</p><p>Talon Damian - Damon (Dae)<br/>Talon Tim - Tyler (Ty)<br/>Talon Jason - Jayden<br/>Talon Richard - Ricky</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Techium couldn’t help but look at Bruce every few seconds, he still didn’t trust a man with that face. He could still remember the cold hands and the needles and the pain and the darkness and the silence and the blood and… He stops himself before he goes any further, he’d survived thus far by keeping his Talon self and himself separate, he could not afford to let the two lapse together. He could not. Damian needed him. Sure Jason and Dick were good, stable, but they still carried too many scars, too much fear and programming that they had yet to cast off. They couldn’t spar with Damian without having flashbacks to the Court, they couldn’t listen to Damian when he whispered his fears and desires, and they couldn’t hold Damian as he softly cried over his guilt and scars. They couldn’t. To Jason and Dick Damian was the strong one, the leader, the alpha who was their stronghold and backbone when they were floundering. If he appeared weak to them then they would break, there was no doubt about that. </p><p> </p><p>But to Tim, Damian was a paradox being both a protective older brother and an occasionally, vulnerable younger one. He remembered Damian taking bullets for him and pulling him out of his dissociative episodes when he couldn’t control the Talon side of him. Yet he also remembered every time Damian would come to him with a nightmare and every instance the boy would take him up to some high perch in Gotham and voice his thoughts. He knew he played an integral role in keeping this broken family of theirs together. He was Damian’s vent and in exchange, Damian took care of all of them. </p><p> </p><p>So he needed to calm the freak down and stop glancing at Bruce.</p><p> </p><p>Slowly he took a breath through his nose, a calming trick that he’d learned from Damian, one that didn’t show one’s nerves, and dove back into the conversation.</p><p> </p><p>He hadn’t missed much, just a lot of poorly concealed anxiety. Well, concealed to the untrained eye but not to a former Talon who lived with the alternate copies of said nervous people. The guy who looked like Dick had an uneasy look in his eyes and his eyes were shifting back and forth from Damian to Tim and then back again while the Jason look alike was frowning and studying them. His copy looked like he was muttering something and running some crazy calculations in his head, which is honestly what he would be doing if he wasn’t so used to situations like this. Damian’s alternate had a tick that was more obvious than anything his Damian would have. The kid was literally tapping a finger on his arm, such a clear sign of agitation. Bruce was simply looking at the two of them, no doubt thinking of the repercussions of having four Talons in his house. </p><p> </p><p>“So what are your fucking orders from the Court?” Alternate-Jason finally snaps, “Who are you here to kill?”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t kill anyone except those who pose a clear and imminent danger to my family.” Damian answers curtly, “And Tim, Jason, and Richard have sworn off killing.”</p><p> </p><p>“And we’re just supposed to believe that?” Fake-Jason sneers, “Talons that won’t kill because they’ve fucking sworn it off?”</p><p> </p><p>That sends a shot of hate through Tim, how dare this alternate version look down on what they’ve been through and the progress they’ve made towards having a <em> normal </em> life. He opens his mouth to say something but Damian holds a hand up.</p><p> </p><p>“I can promise you that as long as we are under this roof no harm will come to any of you. Also, <em> Jason </em>, I do not mind you insulting me and my believably, however I draw the line when it comes to my brothers. They have been trying their hardest to avoid throwing anyone to the pull of death and I except that you have been doing the same?” Damian replies with a slight raise of his eyebrow, a challenge.</p><p> </p><p>“At least I’m not a fucking Talon.” Alternate Jason snaps, “I can <em> control </em> my actions.”</p><p> </p><p>Damian hums gently, “The Pit Rage says otherwise but I will stop there before we make this discussion about you and not our impending problems. Not that I mean to offend you, your problems deserve time to be ironed out and discussed but I do not believe that this is the main priority at the current moment.”</p><p> </p><p>Alternate Damian shoots Damian an approving look to which Damian seems completely obvious to, but Tim knew he saw it, Damian saw everything.</p><p> </p><p>Alternate Jason sputters, trying but failing to come up with a retort and is spared the embarrassment as Damian continues in a soft voice, “In our world there was only the Court. The Court ruled everything, they were the kings and queens standing at the top and looking down over their oppressed subjects. We escaped into a different dimension, not this one mind you, another one. Our presence here is an accident...”</p><p> </p><p>An insistent buzzing broke through the explanation and Damian glances down at his wrist computer. His nose twitched slightly, a clear sign that he was annoyed.</p><p> </p><p>“Excuse the rudeness, but I have to take this phone call. It’s important, do you mind?” Damian says, but it’s clear from his tone that he wasn’t taking no as an answer.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure?” Alternate Dick says furrowing his brow, “Do you want to go outside?”</p><p> </p><p>“No need.” Damian replies waving his hand dismissively, “You’ll end up listening either way, you’re Bats after all.”</p><p> </p><p>With that he clicks the computer and watches as a holographic screen pops up. Tim smiles when he sees who it is. Familiar passive, yet somehow expressive, face that held a hint of arrogance with short cropped brown hair and slitted turquoise eyes, Mystoia. </p><p> </p><p>“Dae, you got yourself in trouble again.” Mys says, though not annoyed, simply expectant, “Congratulations.”</p><p> </p><p>Damian rolls his eyes, it was an unguarded gesture he only used around Mys or people he trusted, “I dress up in a suit of Kevlar every night and go out to beat the crap out of people with bad intentions, do you not expect me to get in trouble?”</p><p> </p><p>Mys huffs amused, “Of course I expect trouble little one, but your brother is over here crying his tiny eyes out because Hark told him that you won’t be back for the whole month of November due to the dimensional energies getting screwed up with your unexpected jump.”</p><p> </p><p>“Auk’s there?” Tim asks, worry creeping through him. Ugh, out of all the months to get stuck away from home it had to be November.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes Tech, Auk’s here with Dickie and Damian. The child insisted and you know where he gets his stubbornness from.” Mys replies with a small smile, “His brothers, on both sides.”</p><p> </p><p>Out of the corner of his eye Tim sees the other versions confused again, which was normal, dimension traveling was a headache to anyone. Especially since there were now three dimensions involved. But he quickly gets pulled back to the screen and Auk appears, his face red and splotchy. Which was a good thing, he was acting like a normal child, upset and expressing his emotions, such a stark contrast to what a Talon was supposed to do. </p><p> </p><p>Auk whimpered as he saw them, his electric blue eyes wide and sad, “You’re supposed to be home...” </p><p> </p><p>Damian frowns at the sandy haired boy, “I’m sorry Auk, circumstances have intervened.”</p><p> </p><p>Auk breaks down into more tears and Tim feels his heart clench, he desperately wants to move heaven and earth to get home. They had had November all planned out, the five of them. They were going to spend everyday with each other and/or with their dimension’s Bats. An activity for each day. There was even a tiny calendar in the corner of his room that had everything written on it. </p><p> </p><p>Dammit.</p><p> </p><p>Damian lets Auk cry for a moment, before he speaks again, his voice is firm but soft, “Enough Auk.”</p><p> </p><p>Auk immediately stops and takes to sniffling instead, staring at them with his wide puppy eyes. Tim wants to glare at Damian but he knows his brother is only saying the sentence with his best intentions in mind. Plus the worried undertone in Damian’s tone unnerves him, something’s wrong. </p><p> </p><p>“I need you to be strong ok, Little Auk? Can you promise me that? Stay close to Dami and Richard and spend time with your family. I promise we will make up this time when we get home, alright?” </p><p> </p><p>“You promise?” Auk squeaks, “Promise Dae?”</p><p> </p><p>“I do, and I give you my word that I will make it up to you. Now please pass the device to Damian, I wish to speak to him.”</p><p> </p><p>There's some movement and then Damian appears on the screen. Well, the version of Damian Tim’s used to anyway. The one who’s the vigilante Shadow and Bruce’s first son. </p><p> </p><p>“Damon.” He nods in greeting. “Getting yourself in trouble again?”</p><p> </p><p>Damian snorts, “Yeah, because I asked to be transported to another world where your ages are reversed.”</p><p> </p><p>“...That is an interesting development.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes it is, but that is not why I need to speak to you. I have reason to believe that the Court from my original world is after all of us, especially Auk, given his importance to them. I need your assurance that he will be protected.”</p><p> </p><p>Oh. Talon’s bloody rage makes sense now.</p><p> </p><p>Damian's eyes gleam dangerously, “They will not touch him.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you. I have items that may be of use to you. Please ask Mystoia, she will aid you in accessing my laboratory. You will find what you need inside. And for the sake of my fragile sanity please at least take katanas within, they are designed for Talon combat.” </p><p> </p><p>“I will.” Damian assures, “But weapons for Talons? You are really planning to wage war on the Court.” </p><p> </p><p>“Please.” Talon waves, “I’ve been planning this since I left the Court. I refuse to let them get away with what they’re doing, especially with their newest operations. They will fall. And I will make sure they never rise again. Even if that means I have to take the blade to my father’s head. Now I believe I have to leave, this conversation has gone on long enough. I have to deal with your family’s insane paranoia now. I cannot believe that Batman has not demanded blood tests yet. I am assuming it has something to do with the fact that he is in his civilian clothing and the fact that we are interrupting dinner.”</p><p> </p><p>Damian huffs, “Your paranoia is just as bad if not worse than ours.”</p><p> </p><p>Talon smirks, “Obviously, otherwise I would not be alive. Now, you had better go my friend, someone has to keep an eye on Auk and Richard.”</p><p> </p><p>Tim smiles internally at the interaction, though he’s somewhat jealous, Damian could interact so normally without the Court hanging over his head. He wasn’t broken like the rest of them were. </p><p> </p><p>Damian closes the hologram and turns back to the Bats in the room. “My little brother and his family. But that is besides the point, I would like to ask a favor of you. Can you shelter my brothers and I until the end of this month? I will provide all the necessary evidence to prove that we are indeed you from another dimension, blood work should be sufficient, correct?”</p><p> </p><p>“It would be.” Bruce replied curtly but Tim catches the look of uncertainty that crosses his face, “And you may stay as well.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you.” Damian smiles. “We appreciate your hospitality.”</p><p> </p><p>Everyone in the room looks uncomfortable at the expression, like Damian smiling wasn’t something they were used to. Which kind of struck Tim as strange, Damian was the one who had taught them how to smile.</p><p> </p><p>“And for the sake of not confusing everyone, please feel free to call us by our newer names which we took up once we escaped the Court. Mine is Damon, or Dae, I do not particularly care. Tim goes by Tyler, Jason by Jayden, and Richard by Ricky.”</p><p> </p><p>As he spoke Tim heard shuffling at the door and everyone snapped around to see a startled Jayden. Jayden freezes as everyone stares at him, looking like a deer in headlights while his left arm trembles, his telltale sign of fear. He stares, chewing on his bottom lip like he wanted to say something (which he probably did) but was too afraid to voice it. They all were.</p><p> </p><p>Dae gets up and makes his way over to Jayden, “Is it Ricky?”</p><p> </p><p>Jayden gives a jerky nod.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright, I will see to him. And will you let Tyler take a blood sample? Bruce needs it as proof. Then you both go get some rest, it’s nearly 3 am back home and I’ve been told that things look better in the morning.”</p><p> </p><p>Jayden nods again at the instructions and darts over Tyler’s side as Dae leaves. He fidgets nervously under everyone’s stares and Tyler wants to do the same but he has to stay strong, otherwise he’d startle Jayden. So instead of curling in on himself like he desperately wanted to he raises his head and looks directly at Bruce.</p><p> </p><p>“Can we get this over with?” Tyler asks impatiently, “I’d like to go to sleep before the next millennium comes around.”</p><p> </p><p>“We’ll have to go down to the cave.” Tim says.</p><p> </p><p>Jayden’s eyes widened at the mention of the cave, and Tyler stiffens, he wasn’t particularly keen on going down there himself.</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t have anything up here?” He questions.</p><p> </p><p>“Nope, Aflie doesn’t let us bring nighttime business upstairs.” Dick replies.</p><p> </p><p>Tyler frowns, unaccustomed to that idea. Yeah sure Mys didn’t let any of them bring anything upstairs other than the occasional weapon but they didn’t live upstairs, they lived in the Bunker, never far from a training room, laboratory, library, or kitchen. </p><p> </p><p>Tyler sighes, there was no way in hell he was going to drag Jayden down to the cave, he couldn’t. Dae had trusted him to get this done without giving Jayden a panic attack and it <em> was </em> his job to protect his family when Dae wasn’t able to. </p><p> </p><p>Cause no one else was going to do it.</p><p> </p><p>“No cave. I have equipment for drawing blood and I can get it done up here. The place holds some unpleasant memories.” </p><p> </p><p>Tyler doesn’t wait for a reply, instead concentrating on the air in front of him. Spatial magic was one of the few things he excelled at, besides technology, and it was also one of the more useful tricks he’d picked up. The mark on the back of his left palm pulsated from under his glove as he drew mana from this world, and soon there was a gentle flash of light, accompanied by the flopping of two tubes into his hand. </p><p> </p><p>“Magic.” Damian, the younger version, glares, “Since when was Drake capable of magic?”</p><p> </p><p>“Our legal guardian is a dragon versed in many types of magic and we had the capacity so she taught us some. That’s spacial magic, this particular spell is typically used for storing items in a large pocket of sorts in between dimensions. Helpful when you need to store things you can’t carry on your person, like non-perishable food, water, extra weapons, and first aid.” </p><p> </p><p>Gosh, it felt weird explaining this to someone who was the splitting image of Dae. He’d never had to explain anything to Dae other than his feelings, a rare occasion, because Dae had always just known everything before he said it. Well, perhaps not everything, he’d had to explain some of the stuff he’d built before but never anything that had to do with combat, life and death, and magic. </p><p> </p><p>Tyler preps the needles and then proceeds to draw a small tube of blood from each of them while the Bat family watches in silence, kind of awkward if you asked him but he wasn’t about to say anything about it. </p><p> </p><p>He hands the samples to Bruce, “We’re going to get some sleep now and let you guys get back to your family dinner.”</p><p> </p><p>“Alfred will show you to your rooms.” Bruce says as he takes the samples.<br/><br/></p><p>“No need, we’ll share.”</p><p> </p><p>“There are more than enough...”</p><p> </p><p>“Past trauma is a bitch and nightmares are easier when there are more people.” Tyler snaps as he grabs Jayden’s hand and drags the both of them out to finally find the rest of their broken family.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope ya'll enjoyed the chapter!</p><p>I know most of it is focused on Talon Damian's actions with inputs from the character perspective I'm currently writing from and I'm sorry about that... I really want to express the other character's feeling but there doesn't seem to be enough room for it in the chapter but I promise I will get to it later. Talon Tim is a complicated character and he's dealing with his own issues so the meeting scene isn't really a good time to start unpacking them. Also, I know the responses from the canon batfam are muted and I will get to those next chapter. I needed to get some of the characters off the screen for a little while so I can focus on thoughts and perspectives of the Canon version, so please bare with me. :)</p><p>Also, as the summary suggests, there will be family bonding and stuff in the rest of the chapters, one for every day in November. So far we're going to have a Joker day (which will be a few chapters long), a Thanksgiving day (cause it's November and we cannot miss the fun family event know as Thanksgiving), and a messed up time/dimension travel day (that will contain Auk and Reverse Dick). That's all I got so far, perhaps I will add stuff about ice cream and cats but idk...</p><p>On that note though, if you happen to have a prompt idea for any one of these days please leave a comment below and I will probably end up writing it!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whelp, hopefully y'all aren't too confused. Please feel free to tell me what you think!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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